Spector defense attacks chauffeur's testimony

LOS ANGELES 
The defense in Phil Spector's murder retrial argued Wednesday that jurors should not believe a pivotal story told by the music producer's chauffeur or the testimony of five women who claimed Spector confronted them with guns years before the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson in 2003.

In his closing argument, attorney Doron Weinberg sought to undermine the account of chauffeur Adriano De Souza, who claims the rock music legend emerged from his house holding a gun and declared, "I think I killed somebody."

Weinberg said De Souza may have mistaken Spector's words in a moment of great stress with the noise of a fountain distracting him. He also said that forensic evidence showed Spector could not have been carrying a gun at that point.

"De Souza believes he saw a gun because he heard a shot," he said.

Weinberg cited experts who cast doubt on the reliability of eyewitness testimony in times of stress.

He said investigators who interviewed De Souza never challenged or scrutinized his story because they wanted to believe it. He suggested that Spector may have actually told the chauffeur that there had been a killing and to "call somebody."

"He was scared and confused," he said of De Souza. "This man was so stressed and scared he couldn't remember how to use his cell phone. and this is a man whose native language is Portuguese."

"The idea that this person who made these observations under the most extreme circumstances is to be trusted and made the foundation of a criminal prosecution is frightening," said the attorney.

Weinberg said the stories told by the five women, some of them harking back 30 years, were filled with lies. He said most of them sold their stories for big paychecks from tabloids and became locked into those stories before they testified.

He said the women, who had romantic relationships with Spector, testified out of anger and disappointment. One of them, a gifted pianist, said she expected Spector to record her songs and make her a star, which he did not. Another witness claimed she was pistol-whipped by Spector but a police officer who testified about the incident said there was no evidence of that. One of the women had embezzled money from a bank, he noted.

He said that officers who were conducting a "goal-oriented investigation," failed to challenge the women's accounts and did not present corroboration for their stories.

"I know it's hard to accept the idea that people would come in here and lie to you," he said. "But they were locked into their stories."

The prosecution began a rebuttal argument late Wednesday afternoon.

Clarkson, 40, star of the 1985 cult film "Barbarian Queen," died from a bullet fired in her mouth in Spector's home. The defense contends it was self-inflicted. Weinberg referred to a number of e-mails in evidence which demonstrated Clarkson's despair.

Spector, 69, the producer known for his "Wall of Sound" recording technique and his eccentric personality, met Clarkson who was working as a hostess at the House of Blues night and invited her home. A few hours later she was dead.